THE Melbourne Rebels forwards were presented at a camp at Phillip Island late last year with figures that left little in the way of ambiguity.

In a frank session they were told that the Rebels scrum had been the worst performing pack in Super Rugby, based on statistics used to determine its effectiveness in how much ball it was delivering to the backs and the scrummaging penalties it gave away.

''In the last two years our scrum's been 15th and 15th in rankings so that was a big emphasis for us to try and get that up,'' said hooker Ged Robinson.

''You can't deny that's where we've been so we've been given a lot more time in pre-season to work on it and we continue to work on it and hopefully it gets better.''

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The Rebels' new scrum coach Matt Tink said the scrummaging failures had been investigated after the end of last season, with emphasis placed on such things as reducing the high number of penalties given away by an under-pressure scrum.

Tink said he had been working to change the Rebels into an eight-man scrummaging unit, where the ''back five'' gave more support to the front-row, something helped by the addition of openside breakaway Scott Fuglistaller, who ''loves scrummaging''. Captain Gareth Delve was also playing a more active role from No. 8.

''We're very confident in the work that we've done. It's going to take time,'' Tink said.

In Friday's 30-23 season-opening win over the Western Force, the Rebels forwards showed some of the results of that work.

The performance was not without errors, losing a couple of their own lineouts and conceding a number of penalties for ruck infringements when they were under pressure in the first 30 minutes. But the Rebels forwards' work around the ground met the challenge of the Force, with Melbourne coach Damien Hill particularly pleased with the work from his front and second row.

''I thought the whole tight five was outstanding,'' Hill said. ''Laurie Weeks [returning from a shoulder reconstruction], 80 minutes for a tight-head prop and he just did not give up. I thought Hugh [Pyle] was fantastic until he gave up to that cramp and Luke Jones, I think he's one of the best engines in the competition, he just kept on going and going. Nic [Henderson] was strong and Ged showed some good things as well. I don't want to point individuals out but that tight five in particular put in a sold effort.''

Delve also said two new faces, loose forwards Fuglistaller and Scott Higginbotham, add new dimensions.

''I thought everybody really fronted up. I thought Scott Fuglistaller was fantastic, Higgers adds a huge amount and was probably quite unlucky with that break out of our 22. Everyone fronted up and work hard for each other,'' Delve said.

Robinson said the effort against the Force showed improvement but the scrum was a ''work in progress''.

''We want to be there for the team and help the backs,'' he said. ''We want to get good scrum ball for them and give them a platform. Our scrum has always been OK but, like anything, you've got to improve to win the comp.''